


I know there’s better brothers but you’re the only one that’s mine

by Pseudothyrum



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Brothers, Gen, Pre-Canon, Seth in prison, for he is truly his brother's keeper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 13:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3939025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudothyrum/pseuds/Pseudothyrum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'"And I will strike down upon thee with mild mischief and vague annoyance those who attempt to poison and destroy my brother." Ezukiel 25:17 or something, I don't know, I haven't read the Bible."</p><p>They come looking for Richie while Seth is in prison. Seth isn't about to make it easy on them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I know there’s better brothers but you’re the only one that’s mine

They come for him in the morning, because of course they do. Seth is not a morning person, has never met a single person in his life that has ever claimed to love waking at the crack of dawn. And yet they are here, dragging him from his regulation cot in his regulation cell before the sun has even had the decency to drift above the horizon.  

They sit him down at a cold metal table and somebody offers to get him a cup of coffee, which tells him that they want something. That they ask him how he takes it tells him that it’ll be something important. He wonders what it might be, since he has very little in the way of hands left to play. He has his answer when Richie’s picture is placed carefully in front of him. There have been whisperings in the yard that his brother is falling apart, but it has never seemed more viscerally real than at this moment. It is a security still of Richie, dirty and disheveled, a beard sitting uncomfortably on his face. He is looking over his shoulder as though he is being pursued. The quality is terrible and the set of his shoulders is wrong, all wrong. Seth knows his brother, and this is not his brother, not really. His brother, who is meticulous in all things, his brother who knows so much about everything. This brother is weighed down and haunted. This brother is unravelling. Seth would give anything to be back to him. He plasters a grin on his face. 

“Are the police finally investigating the Bigfoot sightings in the area? I always said he was a menace.” The men do not dignify the question with a verbal response. The younger of the two rolls his eyes a little too ostentatiously, eager to show that he is too hardened to be phased by anything Seth says. The elder just pushes the photo forward. 

“Where is he, Seth?”

“Well, gee fellas, you know I’d just love to help such fine, upstanding lawmen as yourselves. But, as you may have noticed my brother and I haven’t had many chances to reconnect of late. Can’t go around for coffee much.” He jerks his manacled hands up off the table so the chains rattle against the surface.

“Look at the picture again, Seth,” the man says, pushing it further forward. Seth doesn’t need to look at it again, but he does, and he fixates on it. Of course he knows exactly where Richie is, has since before these cops dragged him out of his bed. He shrugs. The older cop seems unsurprised. 

“Listen Seth, we know he’s your brother, but you don’t know what he’s been doing. He’s been hurting people; it’s only a matter of time until he gets hurt too. You can see him here, does he look well? Help us find him so we can keep him safe from himself.” 

Seth remains impassive, eyes fixed on this brother. Richie looks so sick, and he aches to help him. Ever since the fire Seth has tried so hard to keep his brother safe, from himself and from the world into which he has never seemed quite able to fit. And now he is here, locked away in a tiny metal cage at the time when Richie needs him the most. He has failed his brother, as he always swore he wouldn’t.

“We know it’ll be hard for you, but we can make it worth your while. Special privileges, anything you need.”

Seth must let some of what he is thinking show on his face, and the cop seems to think he has struck a blow. There is a triumphant gleam as he swoops in for what he thinks is the kill

“We can move you to a different wing, maybe get you your own cell,” the man nods at his black eye, “won’t have to worry about that guy coming back. Maybe you and your brother can share a cell.”

He jerks his head up at this, and meets the man’s eyes for the first time. He can see it in the man’s smug smile that he thinks he has won. He pushes down his all-consuming anger at the idea of Richie being in a cage, at the idea that this could possibly be what his brother deserves, and he lets his face fall into defeat. They give him the pencil when he asks for it. 

 

_Follow the road out of town heading west_

_Up about three miles, turn left_

_Continue until the road forks_

_Keep left_

_You’ll see a dead tree, turn right at the next road_

_On about two more miles_

_Up the hill, he’ll be in the second building on the left_

 

“We’ll bring your brother by, once we get him, so you two can talk,” the older man says, as though he is doing Seth any sort of favour, as though he would be doing Richie any sort of favour, “and we can talk about special privileges then.” Seth nods absently and lets them lead him back to his cell while the cops walk out with smug satisfaction painted across their faces. 

He wonders how long it will take them to notice. He hopes they follow every step.

***

The next day they come back for him and it is even earlier, although it might be easier to say it is very late. He is offered no coffee. The younger of the two drops a Big Kahuna Burger bag on the table. It smells tantalizingly of all the food they never give you in prison, unless you are just about to very permanently leave it.

“That was very funny, Mr Gecko,” says the older man, and there is no humour in his voice, “you’ll be pleased to know that we made it all the way to the hill before we noticed. Although we were all very thankful you were kind enough to direct us to a good place for dinner.” Seth grins. He is pleased to hear it.

“You know, I’m surprised you have such loyalty for him,” the younger one says, frustration leaking out of him, “Isn’t it his fault that you’re in here? Didn’t he leave you to run a job all on your own?” Seth’s grin immediately slides off his face, and the younger cop’s smile grows uglier, because he thinks he knows something, he thinks he understands Seth. 

“We can’t give you special privileges anymore, now you’ve jerked us around, but we can help you make sure your brother pays for that.” Seth looks at the younger cop for a long moment, and then tilts his head in disbelief towards the older one. His awareness of his partner’s mistake is writ large on his face. He almost looks apologetic when his eyes make contact with Seth’s. The younger cop looks between them, unaware. 

“He’s my _brother_ ,” Seth says, as though that finishes it, and as far as he is concerned it does. He can see that the older cop knows it too, and they leave him alone soon enough. While he waits for the sun to rise he thinks about his brother, and about how he can possibly save him this time. 

***

“Peace of mind,” Carlos says, “is what your brother needs.”  


Seth knows this is true, and he would give anything to make it happen. Soon, Seth thinks, the Gecko brothers will be back. Soon his brother will be safe. 

 


End file.
